The European Commission on Monday unveiled a "single European transport area" aimed at enforcing "a profound shift in transport patterns for passengers" by 2050.
The plan also envisages an end to cheap holiday flights from Britain to southern Europe with a target that over 50 per cent of all journeys above 186 miles should be by rail.
Top of the EU's list to cut climate change emissions is a target of "zero" for the number of petrol and diesel-driven cars and lorries in the EU's future cities.
Siim Kallas, the EU transport commission, insisted that Brussels directives and new taxation of fuel would be used to force people out of their cars and onto "alternative" means of transport.
"That means no more conventionally fueled cars in our city centres," he said. "Action will follow, legislation, real action to change behaviour."
The Association of British Drivers rejected the proposal to ban cars as economically disastrous and as a "crazy" restriction on mobility.
"I suggest that he goes and finds himself a space in the local mental asylum," said Hugh Bladon, a spokesman for the BDA.
"If he wants to bring everywhere to a grinding halt and to plunge us into a new dark age, he is on the right track. We have to keep things moving. The man is off his rocker."
Mr Kallas has denied that the EU plan to cut car use by half over the next 20 years, before a total ban in 2050, will limit personal mobility or reduce Europe's economic competitiveness.
"Curbing mobility is not an option, neither is business as usual. We can break the transport system's dependence on oil without sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility. It can be win-win," he claimed.
Christopher Monckton, Ukip's transport spokesman said: "The EU must be living in an alternate reality, where they can spend trillions and ban people from their cars.
"This sort of greenwashing grandstanding adds nothing and merely highlights their grandiose ambitions." Yeah good luck with that guys. Lemme know how it is going by 2050 if you are all aren't under shaira law by that time and bowing to Mecca.
First thingys come first - a genuine "market need" or other requirement(s) for such has to be identified.
Thanks mainly to 1980's-1990's changes in US-Western corporate focii towards "LEAN-N-MEAN" ECONOMIES OF SCALE[ e.g. Just-in-Time production], SOLUTIONS ARE ALREADY AT OR NEAR MARKET CAPACITIES + WILL LIKLEY REMAIN SO
BEYOND 2050.
At this time, despite the "Information/Internet Revolution", there is little or no need for US-International conglomerates to reduce their dependence or reliance on POST-FOSSIL FUEL NT.
#2
From what I am seeing the EU will go after all EU members. They will have each EU member incorporate these laws into the laws of their respective countries.
#5
NEWS KERALA > RUSSIA NOT WILLING TO LOSE "NUCLEAR SHIELD" [or give up NucEnergy] DUE TO FUKUSHIMA DISASTER.
* DAILY TIMES.PK > RUSSIA'S POPULATION FELL DURING PUTIN'S DECADE, thus in LT will contin to affect its ability to econ compete wid China + India, etc.
* SAME > URBANIZATION IN CHINA THREATENS ITS FOOD SECURITY, as per sharp steady decrease in arable land available for Agriculture.
Now, this guy either has a birth certificate or he doesnt, Trump said. And I didn't think this was such a big deal, but I will tell you, its turning out to be a very big deal because people now are calling me from all over saying, please don't give up on this issue."
Congress and the Department of Justice appear to be headed for a showdown this week over documents detailing Operation Fast and Furious, the botched gunrunning sting set up by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that funneled more than 1,700 smuggled weapons from Arizona to Mexico.
The Justice Department has until Wednesday to deliver to congressional investigators a stack of records and emails naming the individuals responsible for the gun trafficking operation that may have killed dozens, if not hundreds of Mexicans, and is becoming a growing embarrassment for the Obama administration.
Under Project Gunrunner and the Phoenix off-shoot, dubbed Fast and Furious, the ATF encouraged gun store owners to sell to straw buyers -- consumers who they suspected of working on behalf of Mexican drug cartels.
Project Gunrunner purposely allowed the straw buyers to illegally buy and export guns only to see where they surfaced in Mexico. Using this investigative technique, the ATF hoped to take down the entire gun trafficking organization. Instead, records show it allowed more than 1,700 guns, including hundreds of AK-47s and high-powered, armor-piercing .50-caliber rifles to be trafficked to Mexico
Buying guns for non-personal use is illegal. Yet gun store owners were assured by ATF agents the buyers were under investigation and the guns were being intercepted before crossing into Mexico.
AFT's gunrunning investigations were supposed to stem the flow of guns, like these, bought by U.S. straw buyers and sold in Mexico.
Instead, whistleblowers say the guns were allowed "to walk." This could turn into a really bad scandal for Obama I can see this being the beginning of the end of his crumbling presidency..
#1
These guns were used to kill not only innocent Mexicans, but also agents in Mexico.
Accessory to Murder charges need to be filed, if not by the Justice Department, by Mexico against the Justice Department, as well as Big Zero in the Oval Office.
#2
I did some awfully stupid things while I was President but this is probably the single stupidest thing ever done by an administration in the name of law enforcement.
On the other hand, if you think the guys over in Foggy Bottom are weird, try some of those CIA wannabes over in DOJ...
You almost come to expect stupidity out of DOJ.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/28/2011 16:48 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The European Commission on Monday unveiled a "single European transport area" aimed at enforcing "a profound shift in transport patterns for passengers" by 2050.
Congress and the Department of Justice appear to be headed for a showdown this week over documents detailing Operation Fast and Furious, the botched gunrunning sting set up by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that funneled more than 1,700 smuggled weapons from Arizona to Mexico.
